Pavel Pashkov: I announce the beginning of expeditionary research work in defense of the Earth’s Biosphere.

For many years, you and I carried out expeditions across Russia — from one end of our beloved Motherland to the other. We investigated reports from regional residents about environmental problems, exposed violations, and achieved change. Among other things, we documented large-scale logging of ancient forests. I spoke in Moscow at official meetings, came in person, and maintained contact with remarkable people in the Government.

We also carried out expeditions to feed wintering birds whose habitat had been destroyed by humans. We removed torturous animal-trapping devices, poachers’ snares, and traps. Our long-standing companions remember how long and difficult the path of our Mission has been.

These were difficult tasks that had to be carried out in the Russian Taiga, solving local problems.

Then this global chaos began — the infighting of states and social discord. Conducting expeditions became practically impossible. On the one hand, the country’s protected-area system began to be subjected to the harshest exploitation, as industrial lobbying groups, through their pocket officials, began pushing through legislation with numerous projects weakening the protection status of the last refuges of wildlife. At the same time, on the other hand, everything became too expensive, in some places impossible, and on top of that, systemic pressure on those who try to defend nature increased many times over.

And so we moved toward establishing our own infrastructure, developing mechanisms of influence over these problems, and actively pushing back against the greedy appetites of the lobbyists seeking to destroy protected areas. Expeditions moved into the background — I remind you that we have no funding; I carry out all this work myself, personally, at my own expense. It is impossible to carry everything alone, and each time I have to choose priorities among the tasks.

Beyond all these problems, our understanding of the scale of the ecological crisis also changed. So did our understanding of the importance of protecting the connectivity of biological systems and of solving precisely global, deeply systemic problems. Simply seeing, from personal experience, how with the last of your strength you drag thousands of feeders for wintering birds deep into the Siberian taiga, while at that very moment their last chance at Life is being taken away by legalizing the direct destruction of protected areas. The linear destruction of their habitat.

There also came the understanding that similar destruction of nature and extermination of animals is taking place all over the world. In the context of the ongoing race among states for leadership in the Fourth Technological Revolution, they have completely lost their restraint: they openly say that the time has come to develop the last protected areas.

And this is despite the fact that, according to scientific data from scientists around the world, the planetary crisis has already become destructive, and very soon we will cross the line of no return. These are not my assumptions, but the scientific conclusions of the world’s leading scientists.

Look:

• Since 1970 alone — that is, in just several decades — the abundance of vertebrate animals in the world has declined by approximately 73%, meaning only a small fraction remains alive, and these surviving populations are precisely the ones hiding from humans in protected areas torn to pieces.

  
  

• Humanity has already transgressed seven planetary boundaries — according to some data, six — which means that the Biosphere has moved beyond the safe operating space for us ourselves. If we cross all the boundaries, no one will be able to stop it anymore. We are simply waging war against ourselves: collective self-destruction.

  
  

• The rate of extinction of genera — precisely genera — of vertebrate animals exceeds the natural background rate by roughly 35 times, and the recovery of the species already destroyed will require millions of years of evolutionary history. We are erasing from the face of the planet the most important thing it was ever capable of creating: genetic complexity.

  
  

• At the same time, around 45% of all plant species on the planet are threatened with extinction, including many species about which we know virtually nothing.

  
  
• Approximately 38% of tree species are also on the brink of extinction, which means that the blow is falling not only on forests, but also on thousands of animal and plant species that depend on specific trees as the foundation of their ecosystems.

These global problems must be solved. And they must be solved urgently. The entire world must unite in defense of Life, fight for nature, and push through real changes within state systems.

Is this not true madness? Just think about it: we are literally racing toward a cliff where certain death awaits us all. But instead of collectively taking action and stopping this “locomotive of death,” people voluntarily and fully consciously tear at one another’s throats, participating in political and social chaos. Some groups say, “Attack these people,” others shout over them, “No, attack those people,” while at that very moment these same groups are brazenly enriching themselves through the destruction of nature behind the backs of a distracted society.

And I am not exaggerating in the slightest. What do they say? That there is a crisis, the economy is falling, the country has problems? Look at this: according to Forbes, in 2022 Russia had 83 billionaires with a combined wealth of about $320 billion, but by 2026 their number had grown to 155, and their combined capital had risen to around $696.5 billion. Everything is fine for them; there are no problems. Money is rapidly flowing into the hands of the rich.

And, as a rule, these are all resource oligarchs — that is, those directly tied to the extraction of resources and their subsequent sale. Since the world is moving toward a new technological stage, and “green” and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, require enormous volumes of rare-earth elements, a race is underway over who will be able to extract them, and where, on an industrial scale. But these volumes now remain primarily beneath protected areas, which they are trying to destroy right now.

Bills are being introduced that effectively provide these same billionaires with the appropriation of the protected-area rent of our Motherland. The same thing is happening in the United States: I have written recent materials about this, and there they are tearing apart the last refuges of wildlife in exactly the same way. And the whole world is doing the same.

From local expeditions, we are moving toward a global struggle

I have been working in defense of nature for more than ten years. Hundreds of expeditions, resistance to pressure, uniting people, achieving change. But in the spring of 2026, industrial lobbies began to prevail, and while society has been set against itself, and protected natural heritage is being torn apart behind people’s backs, the strongest pressure also began against those who defend nature. Experts, scientists, and conservation organizations came under attack. And if earlier, at moments of pressure, society would unite and fight back, now only a handful of people remain on this field of struggle for Life.

So how should we act? What should we do? How can we change the world under such unbearable conditions?

There is only one answer: the struggle must continue.

Here is the point. The current race is finishing off what remains, and what will follow is such a devastating planetary-scale crisis, such a loss of biodiversity and destruction of wildlife refuges, that the world will inevitably rush to save what is left. It will not be about saving nature, but about trying to save ourselves. Humanity is highly adaptive, but people begin to act only when a problem directly affects them personally. Therefore, as a result of the destruction of our own habitat, a collective search for a way out is inevitable. At some point, all state systems will rush to find a way out of the crisis — but today there is no understanding of what exactly must be done.

But you and I have one. We are the first to have proposed a way out of the planetary crisis — and a way out for which there is no alternative. It is the creation of Territories of Complete Ecological Stillness (TCES): the urgent transfer of all remaining areas of natural ecosystems into global conglomerates with a status of absolute protection.

At present, we have a large audience, and almost 200,000 people have supported the creation of Territories of Stillness. In addition, constant work is being carried out in this direction, the Concept is being reinforced with modern scientific research, and permanent infrastructure is being formed. And yet this is not enough.

The problem is that state systems recognize only ready-made projects, where the necessary changes are presented clearly and precisely, including how they can exist within an economic model. Therefore, we have developed our own interactive map, a section with future concrete proposals to states, and justifications for the need to transfer natural ecosystems into TCES.

The next step is to conduct full-scale research through personal study of regions around the world. I understand that achieving the creation of TCES in large states will not be possible; they simply will not agree to it. But even the smallest precedent anywhere in the world will allow these changes to spread globally. Let a small island state, countries in Central Asia, or countries in South America begin integrating the TCES Concept and changing their protected-area systems — and this will inevitably become a precedent the whole world will talk about.

This means that, beyond the proposed plan, we must fill the interactive map through our own efforts and visually demonstrate what the protected-area system of the future should look like. We must carry out expeditionary research work across the world, study existing protected areas, and prepare projects for change. After that, we must promote these projects worldwide, seeking the adoption of the Concept by entering into dialogue with key figures and establishing cooperation.

We are beginning this work

From June 10, 2026, and for the next three years, I have decided to begin this work — we are setting out toward different horizons of the world with a planetary Mission: to change the world for the better. For at least the next three years, I will live on the road, studying the existing protected-area systems in different countries and developing preliminary boundaries for future TCES. This is an enormous research undertaking. I do not know whether we will succeed or not, but if the entire world is sinking into chaos, then it is time to think globally and expand our struggle.

At the same time, we must try to unite millions of people around these projects, creating a constant demand for changing the protected-area system, and this enormous force will drive our struggle forward.

A separate mobile application has been launched specifically for this project. This is my official expedition channel, which can be installed on any smartphone directly from the browser in order to follow our work. As you know, social networks are blocked and the internet is being “restricted,” which is why we are developing our own project infrastructure. And we are succeeding in this very well.

A separate page with the expedition statement has also been launched specifically for the start of this research work; it will be supplemented and expanded if necessary.

In reality, everything is very simple: I want, through my own efforts, to carry out difficult research work with expeditions around the world, define the boundaries of future TCES, prepare concrete proposals to states based on them, and in parallel unite millions of people in our Mission. Then these millions will drive the need for urgent changes to the existing protected-area system of the world.

But that is not all.

In addition, as you know, we have faced pressure because of our attempts to defend protected areas. The industrial lobby literally tried to crush us so that we would not interfere with the implementation of its interests. I do not know how to fight such gigantism — and, in truth, no one knows. But we will try.

On my official website, we are already beginning to launch a separate section called “Wildlife Protection Programs.” These will be the core projects addressing key environmental problems that urgently need to be solved in the country. I mean long-term problems whose solution would immediately have a positive impact on the connectivity of biological systems. For example, promoting a complete ban on the logging of cedars and oaks in the country would help preserve the food base of animals and centers of interspecies connection. And if we achieve a ban on the logging of old-growth forests — ancient forests — this will help restrain the greedy appetites of industrial lobbies seeking to develop ecosystem cores.

We will launch such protection programs in parallel with the expeditionary research work, step by step, and then purposefully push them forward through our people inside the Government, with well-substantiated proposals.

In addition, the website includes functionality for public initiatives. These have already proved extremely effective in solving local problems, although many initiatives had to be closed under pressure. I think we will redirect our initiatives toward solving problems reported by readers and helping people achieve change — for example, local forest logging, poaching, and much more. This is something we can also do together.

Thus, we are now building an enormous independent effort within the framework of my public work:

1. A global plan to defend the Earth’s Biosphere through the creation of Territories of Complete Ecological Stillness (TCES), as well as many years of expeditionary research work. We must, through our own efforts, fill the interactive map, prepare proposals to states, build connections and cooperation with people around the world. We must also unite millions of people so that everyone speaks about the importance and necessity of changing the protected-area system in order to defend the Earth’s Biosphere.

   
   

2. Full-scale “protection programs” that will make it possible to slow the ongoing destruction of wildlife and achieve precisely systemic changes, bringing the implementation of the TCES Concept closer. These will be permanent long-term projects, and we will need systematic work in each direction.

   
   
3. Local public initiatives for working with people’s reports and helping solve environmental problems. Our initiatives will make it possible to quickly direct collective efforts toward the defense of nature, connect society with government bodies, and establish cooperation. This work has already been successfully organized and is showing excellent results; it is important to develop it further.

Meanwhile, I will carry out my own research through my own efforts, forming the boundaries of the future protected-area system on the far horizons of the Earth. I will write my new books, study problems, prepare materials for you, and unite people. To the extent of my abilities.

This is important.

I announce the beginning of expeditionary research work on June 10, 2026. From this moment on, a long nomadic life awaits me. Together with you, we will set out to different countries, study protected areas, connect them into TCES, fill the interactive map, and promote change at the planetary level.

I am not a foundation, not an organization, not some structure close to government or business. I am an independent researcher, and everything I do is the effort of one person. My personal contribution to the struggle for Life. Therefore, many things may not work out, especially if there are no resources for this work.

This may seem unusual, especially in the context of other popular figures, but you and I truly have no advertising, no business, and certainly no lobbying of political interests. We are fully independent. But we do have a truly great Mission and independence.

The beginning of the great road has been announced. The next step is ours: what we will be able to do, and how we will live our lives. I stand for changing the world.

Onward.

© PAVEL PASHKOV